There’s a big divide on the topic whether or not to vaccinate. This topic has ended friendships and divided families.

So, I’m going to step in with the facts. But, first a short history into the past. I grew up in a time before vaccines were readily available. There were very few vaccines when I was a child. Polio was the most devastating disease and caused a lot of fear. Childhood diseases such as, rubella, rubeola, chickenpox, mumps, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, meningitis, killed thousands of children each year.

Mothers rushed their children to get the vaccines once they were developed. As a result, these diseases are almost unheard of in recent times. I ran across a photo of myself at the age of six recently. There was something on my left upper arm. I looked closely and realized it was the plastic shield over the chickenpox vaccine I had just gotten. A plastic shield was put over the inoculation to keep the child from scratching it.

I have two friends who barely survived polio. In addition to surviving polio, their lives have been very difficult. One is in a wheelchair and the other has to walk with the assistance of a cane. Soon, he too will be in a wheelchair.

 

Life in the 1950s as a child

Between 1915 and 1945, infections were the leading cause of death for young and middle-aged children. For those ages one to four, infections remained the leading cause of death until 2005.

A dramatic decline in the number of people dying from infectious diseases in the 20th century was seen as immunizations were introduced. Poliomyelitis (polio), diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella were all virtually wiped out during the second half of the 20th century, after childhood immunization was introduced.

During the 1950s an annual average of greater than 500,000 cases of measles and nearly 500 deaths due to measles were reported in the United States. Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. Note that 90% of the people exposed to measles will catch it. One in four people who contract measles will need hospitalization.

Between 1950 to 1959 there was an average of 114 chickenpox related deaths per year. The most well-known side effect of chickenpox is shingles which shows up later in life. Very rarely, chickenpox can lead to more serious complications involving the nervous system (brain and spinal cord) in children.

I’m not going to go through each disease, but let’s just say that the childhood diseases were not as harmless as people tend to think. I had rubeola as a young child and as a result there was hearing damage and visual side effects.

Vaccine development

During the first stage of developing a vaccine laboratory research usually takes 2 to 5 years to identify the antigens to include in the vaccine.

The second stage consist of researchers conducting test to assess vaccine candidates’ immunogenicity and their ability to obtain the desired immune response. Next is focus on  short-term toxicology, formulation, and development of a scalable, efficient, and reproducible manufacturing process. This data collection and analysis can take around 2 years.

Third step is clinical trials. Clinical trials consist of three phases. Phase one is a two year process. Volunteers are recruited, usually around 100. This phase is to determine if the vaccine is safe to give and if there is a sufficient immune response to the vaccine. Phase 2 last 2-3 years while the vaccine is given to a larger group of people. Then phase 3 is a 5-10 year process. During this phase there are double blind studies conducted. This group is monitored for possible side effects and if antibodies will be produced by the individual for effectiveness in preventing the disease.

Step four can take 2 years or more to get FDA approval.

In step five, production of the vaccine is ramped up for general distribution.

Step six is continued tracking of the efficiency of the vaccine. Marketing and performance review is done in this step.

To make a vaccine, as you can see takes about 10 to 12 years. But, to be clear it can take 20 years.

My question to you, are you going to take a vaccine that has been developed in less than a year?

Can effective vaccines be made for viruses?

One definition on effectiveness of vaccines is:

Vaccine effectiveness was initially termed “field efficacy”. Essentially, vaccine effectiveness is a “real world” view of how a vaccine reduces disease in a population. This vaccine may already have been proved to be efficacious in clinical trials. This measure can assess the net balance of benefits and adverse effects of a vaccination program rather than the vaccine alone in field conditions.

Vaccine effectiveness is proportional to vaccine potency or vaccine efficacy but is primarily affected by how well target groups in the population are immunized, difficulties in storing, administering, cost, accessibility, availability, stability and manufacturing of the vaccine.

Resource: https://www.news-medical.net/health/Vaccine-Effectiveness.aspx

Sounds like a lawyer wrote these definitions.

Considerations on effectiveness

• effect of the disease on the local prevalence and incidence of the disease it is targeted against. This needs to be considered over medium and long term as well
• continued surveillance for the relevant disease following introduction of a new vaccine
• maintenance of high immunization rates, even when a disease has become rare
• maintenance of availability, adequate stability, low cost and wide coverage of the vaccine

Resource: https://www.news-medical.net/health/Vaccine-Effectiveness.aspx

Summary

I’m not going to give you my thoughts on vaccinations. My option is mixed, that’s all I will say about it. I have given you some basic information to help you do your own research.

There are a few points I want to make:

1. Look at evidence base performance. Look who’s behind the money for the study. If the money is coming from the industry trying to prove a point, throw it out. Look for a study where the money for the research is coming from a group who has no vested interest in the results.
2. Viruses mutate. How effective can a vaccine be when a virus mutates rapidly? Vaccines for the flu is one example. Thousands of people get the flu vaccine each year. However,  thousands still get the flu and thousands die from the flu. Not all viruses mutate easily, but the ones developing from the common cold or rhinovirus, coronavirus, RSV and parafluenza do.
3. In light of the political chaos, do you really want to put your health in the hands of politicians? Their agenda is not your health! Do you want to take a chance on a vaccine that has not gone through the process of safe development?